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2011 real-estate winners and losersIt was a rough year for real estate, but a few came out ahead.
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© Thomas J. Story
© Thomas J. Story
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Sincere congratulations to all the people who have worked directly or indirectly in those fabulous dream houses. Words are few to express my great admiration,
Thank You So Much!!
COLD AND BUTT UGLY, PERFECT LOOK FOR A COLD WORLD.... FLAT ROOFS ARE JUST PLAIN STUPID.
"Those who live in glass houses need to dress in the basement". A friend of mine built a glass A-frame, and he did not have any kind of screening around the bathroom, like this house. He did have some people drive up to his house when he was seated on the "Throne".
The West's most innovative homes
By Allison Arieff of Sunset
The Western Home Awards, sponsored by the American Institute of Architects and Sunset, have been celebrating great home design for more than 50 years. This year's winners prove that the best architecture is meant to be used.
Best small home design: Into thin air
Project: Opie-Burleigh itHouse, Three Rivers, Calif.
What we love: Jurors were wowed by this striking glass house built of components shipped from all over the country directly to the picturesque site in the Sierra Foothills. It's small – 1,200 square feet – but makes an eye-popping impact.
Design: Taalman Koch Architecture, Los Angeles (213-380-1060)
- Video: A dream home in San Francisco
- 'Listed': The view goes both ways in glass houses
- MSN Lifestyle: Stylish tricks for every room
 | Design Center Get ideas for your home with our inspirational rooms and direct access to real products. Click here to begin exploring |
The West's most innovative homes
Best small home: Interior
The Fireorb fireplace frees up floor space, and the spindly tables, chairs and even kitchen counters help the home feel uncluttered.
- Sunset.com: 21 amazing home makeovers
- Twitter users: Get the latest updates from MSN Real Estate
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The West's most innovative homes
Best small home: Outdoor fireplace
Carved out of the south side of the house, the fire courtyard provides shelter from the wind.
- Video: A dream home in San Francisco
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- MSN Lifestyle: Stylish tricks for every room
| Design Center Get ideas for your home with our inspirational rooms and direct access to real products. Click here to begin exploring |
The West's most innovative homes
Best custom-built home: Nothing to hide
Project: The Big Porch House, Santa Monica, Calif.
What we love: The playfulness, the great use of color and even the bold, in-your-face-ness of this eye-catching Sunset Park residence. In a world of boxes, it’s a house with real personality.
As the architects explain, the space is meant to say, “Come visit ― we want to know our neighbors.” This openness to the street and to the community offers a new model for the single-family home.
Design: John Friedman Alice Kimm Architects, Los Angeles (213-253-4740)
- Sunset.com: 21 amazing home makeovers
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The West's most innovative homes
Best custom home: Dining room
The dining room opens onto the semi-walled entrance area. The open floor plan and careful window placement eliminate the need for air-conditioning.
- Video: A dream home in San Francisco
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- MSN Lifestyle: Stylish tricks for every room
| Design Center Get ideas for your home with our inspirational rooms and direct access to real products. Click here to begin exploring |
The West's most innovative homes
Best custom home: Bedroom
Frosted glass gives this street-facing bedroom a bit of privacy. South-facing windows allow winter’s rays to warm the house; in summer, the eaves help block the sun.
- Sunset.com: 21 amazing home makeovers
- Twitter users: Get the latest updates from MSN Real Estate
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The West's most innovative homes
Best green home: The Wright way
Project: Taliesin Mod.Fab, Scottsdale, Ariz.
What we love: The optimism and vision of Taliesin students are visible everywhere in this smart prefab. The result of a design/build class taught by Jennifer Siegal and Michael P. Johnson, it’s a dynamic, livable house that honors Frank Lloyd Wright’s legacy while tackling important design issues of today, from innovative prefabrication to sustainable systems such as solar panels and rainwater and gray-water collection.
Design: Michael P. Johnson, faculty lead, Mod.Fab Studio, Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture at Taliesin West, Scottsdale, Ariz.
- Video: A dream home in San Francisco
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| Design Center Get ideas for your home with our inspirational rooms and direct access to real products. Click here to begin exploring |
The West's most innovative homes
Best indoor-outdoor design: Without borders
Project: Vienna Way Residence, Venice, Calif.
What we love: This stylish house, the home of one of the firm’s partners, expressed his family’s desire for a design encompassing landscape and architecture. Sustainable features and native plants up the ante on a seamless integration of indoors and out.
Design: Marmol Radziner, Los Angeles (310-826-6222)
- Sunset.com: 21 amazing home makeovers
- Twitter users: Get the latest updates from MSN Real Estate
| Find coastal home décor |
The West's most innovative homes
Best indoor-outdoor design: Rooftop garden
A grassy roof helps keep the kitchen from heating up in warm months, while sliding doors let evaporation from the swimming pool cool the house.
- Video: A dream home in San Francisco
- 'Listed': The view goes both ways in glass houses
- MSN Lifestyle: Stylish tricks for every room
| Design Center Get ideas for your home with our inspirational rooms and direct access to real products. Click here to begin exploring |
The West's most innovative homes
Best residential remodel: Stage set
Project: Honighaus, San Francisco
What we love: Clients with modern in mind find it’s not always easy to work within the San Francisco Planning Department’s historical mandates. But the architects here proved the maxim that good design comes from constraints, creating an updated exterior for the 1910 Edwardian to house a museumlike transformation indoors.
Jurors were particularly taken with the dramatic concrete “water wall” (far left) that feeds into a small channel cascading to a pond at the rear of the property.
Design: Ogrydziak/Prillinger Architects, San Francisco (415-474-6724)
- Sunset.com: 21 amazing home makeovers
- Twitter users: Get the latest updates from MSN Real Estate
| Find coastal home décor |
The West's most innovative homes
Best residential remodel: Before the renovation
The once-busy back of the house has been opened up and simplified.
- Video: A dream home in San Francisco
- 'Listed': The view goes both ways in glass houses
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The West's most innovative homes
Best urban living space: Triple play
Project: Colman Triplex, Seattle
What we love: That the architects designed a complex yet elegant system to fit three apartments, each with generous outdoor living space and views, within just 3,800 square feet.
The use of a structural steel frame allowed for more flexible floor plans. Someday, for instance, units A and C could be combined to make an apartment large enough to house a home office, an aging parent or a growing family.
Design: Workshop Architecture + Design, Seattle (206-903-5414)
- Sunset.com: 21 amazing home makeovers
- Twitter users: Get the latest updates from MSN Real Estate
| Find coastal home décor |
The West's most innovative homes
Best urban living space: Kitchen
The kitchen in the top-floor unit A borrows a view from the park next door.
- Video: A dream home in San Francisco
- 'Listed': The view goes both ways in glass houses
- MSN Lifestyle: Stylish tricks for every room
| Design Center Get ideas for your home with our inspirational rooms and direct access to real products. Click here to begin exploring |
The West's most innovative homes
Best urban living space: Bath
Also in unit A, a light well illuminates the master bathroom.
- Sunset.com: 21 amazing home makeovers
- Twitter users: Get the latest updates from MSN Real Estate
| Find coastal home décor |
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